a. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Various technical journal articles have been written in the past several years describing the effects or the lack of effectiveness of various antibiotics on various methicillin-resistant cultures of Staphylococcus aureus. These cultures have not occurred too often. However, the infections caused by methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus are said to be nosocomial in nature in that they appear mostly in bed-ridden or debilitated patients. These pathogenic organisms have been observed in cultures taken from patients with malignancy, chronic bone and/or joint disease, chronically impaired circulation or consciousness, or chronic pulmonary disease.
In addition, bacteriologists have been searching for culture preparation methods for separately identifying methicillin resistant from methicillin susceptible cultures of Staphylococcus aureus. They apparently have found at least two in vitro methods, one involving different temperatures of incubation and one involving the use of different sodium chloride concentrations in the culture growth medium, which methods help to distinguish methicillin resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus from those which are not. With these tools the bacteriologists can now more effectively assist and advise clinicians to identify and treat these methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus conditions.